What popularized the idea of aliens having a pair of antennae on their heads?

Question

This right here:

When I show you "this", what is the first thing that comes to mind? That is correct! That's an alien! Not a bee or a butterfly but specifically an alien. But why is that? Where did this come from? Who started it?

Right off the bat, the wiki page for little green men mentions "sometimes with antennae on their heads". It's a feature that's prominent in depictions of aliens everywhere (even in halloween costumes), yet somehow nobody questions its origins. The closest thing I've managed to find after some digging was Frank R Paul's martian man from Fantastic Adventures which had moth-like antennae, however the similarities end there.

I'd be delighted to find out how history shaped the modern depiction of antennaed aliens.

Answer 1

The John Carter stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, starting with A Princess of Mars (1912/1917 in different formats), feature Green Martians which are giant, roughly humanoid beings who hatch from eggs, with six limbs, side-mounted eyes, and ears positioned as small antennae on their foreheads. I'm not sure whether any explicit comparison is made in the text, but descriptions of them have a definite insectoid, preying-mantis-esque tenor to me. Although they're mammalian and humanlike in appearance (aside from the listed differences), they seem a very plausible origin for "green, insectoid, antennae'd" as a stock alien 'look' that later works would further amplify until you end up with the likes of Greedo. Burroughs was an influence on many later prominent writers.

The ears, which were slightly above the eyes and closer together, were small, cup-shaped antennae, protruding not more than an inch on these young specimens.

The Encyclopedia Barsoomia wiki gives some images:

Answer 2

I can only double down on the concept that antennae were likely a go-to touch for aliens from A) the invention of radio and B) bugs have antennae, so that makes humanoids with antennae extra weird.

This first example (A Pictorial History of Science Fiction by David Kyle) is a shot of a 1927 cover of Amazing Stories. But I believe the Selenites were specifically described as insectoid-ish.

After that, the 1959 cover of Future Science Fiction. Following is the first appearance of Chameleon Boy in Action Comics #267 circa 1960. Earlier examples exist on this page, but I present these to support the idea by now antennae are likely so cliche that aliens only had them in parody-comedy art and in comic books for kids.

Answer 3

I'm going with "My Favorite Martian" as a starting point.

This aired on September 29, 1963. The Antenna were popular enough to inspire some merch:

And one of the most beloved antennaed alien characters came shortly later, on October 29, 1965.

While this may or may not be the earliest examples, I'm arguing that these were embedded in pop-culture sufficiently to garner popularity.

Answer 4

There are aliens with antennas in this cartoon by Frosty on p. 21 of Amazing Stories, October 1956, available from the Internet Archive:

Answer 5

Even though the Slan are mutant humans, in 1941 the author showed their differentness via antennae.

I would just mention that given that multiple species on Earth have antennae but they are exclusively on invertebrates, that is, very different than mammals, antennae seem like a natural way to show that the creature is very different than human, even if as in My Favorite Martian, the creature looks just like the character actor Ray Walston.

Answer 6

In My Favorite Martian, September 29, 1963 to May 1, 1966, Uncle Martin's antennae might be either biological or mechanical, making him a cyborg with implanted mechanical parts, as far as I can tell from the photo in Turbo's answer and other images I found online. If antennae are cyborg parts opinions may vary whether Martians should be counted as a species with antennae.

In the The Outer Limits episode "The Zanti Misfits", December 30, 1963, the Zanti are about the size of rats, have six limbs, look like ants except for their human-like faces, and have antennae. They definitely count as aliens with antennae. But if being humanoid with antennae is necessary for the stock image of an alien with antennae, the Zanti don't count.

As far as I can tell, the Marians in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, December 14, 1964, are never seen without their helmets. Thus their antennae seems likely to be parts of their helmets. It would be hard for people with antennae on their heads to put on helmets, trying to fit their antennae through the antenna holes in their helmets.

The Doctor Who tv serial "The Web Planet", 13 February 1965 to 20 March 1965, featured two insect like alien species, the butterfly like Menoptra and the ant like Zarbi. From online photos the Zarbi don't have antennae. The Menoptra do have clearly biological antennae and have a roughly humanoid body plan, except for their gauzy wings. So they may or may not count as the stock image of roughly humanoid aliens with antennea.

The Great Gazoo in The Flintstones first appeared in "The Great Gazoo" October 29, 1965. I haven't been able to find pictures of him without his helmet, so I suspect the antennae are part of his helmet.

I think that the first humanoid aliens with clearly biological antennae in movies and tv might have been Andorians in Star Trek, first seen in "Journey to Babel" November 17, 1967.

In the British film Quatermass and the Pit also known as Five million Years to Earth released September 29, 1967, the aliens have biological antennae, but they are insectoid, resembling grasshoppers. I don't know if they fit the image of humanoid aliens with with antennae.

The movie is based on the BBC tv serial Quatermass and the Pit, 22 December 1958 to 26 January 1959. According to Wikpedia:

Inside, Quatermass and the others find the remains of insect-like aliens resembling giant three-legged locusts, with stubby antennae on their heads giving the impression of horns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatermass_and_the_Pit#Plot

So if the aliens from the BBC serial fit the requirements, they are the earliest movie or tv example so far. If they are not humanoid enough, the Andorians might be the first example.

I have seen many of the 1950s science fiction movies and I don't remember any with aliens with antennae.

So according to what I remember and can find out, the earliest aliens in movies and tv with antennae date to the 1950s or 1960s. The first aliens with antennae in such other media as comic books and science fiction literature might be much earlier.